Concealed water storage for refrigerators



June 1954 H. F. POWELL 2,681,551

CONCEALED WATER STORAGE FOR REFRIGERATORS Filed July 20, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

R Li

I *1 1 TH HERSCHEL F POW ELL.

IN V EN TOR.

Patented June 22, 1954 UNITED STATES TENT ()F F ICE;

CONCEALED WATER STORAGEFOR REFRIGERATOR-S Application July 20, 1949, Serial No.'105,'802

3 Claims This invention relates to household refrigerators and especially to a tubular system for cooling drinking water by the method of transferring the heat in the water by conduction to a serpentine tube, thence by conduction to the liner of the refrigerator which is in physical contact with the serpentine tubing, and thence by convection to'the air circulating in the food storage compartment. In the embodiment of my invention which is herein described, the serpentine tubing is attached to the back side of the rear liner.

The principal object of this invention is to pro videin a household refrigerator a concealed structure capable of furnishing an almost continuous supply of cool drinking water.

Another object of this invention is to provide a coolingand concealed storage for drinkingwater in a household refrigerator by a method utilizing the refrigerator liner as a heatexchange medium to cool the water stored in a continuous coil disposed on the outer or concealed side of the liner.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a household refrigerator water "cooling system.

alternative means of supplying water to the cooler; to wit, either bottle or water main supply.

The method of cooling the water will more fully appear as the specification is read in connection with the accompanying, drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational View of a cone venticnal, household refrigerator withgthe door opened so as to demonstrate a possible location for a cool water tap;

Figure 2 is a side view of a well-known water tap which may be used in connection with my, invention;

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view, of a conventional household refrigerator with the rear cabinet wall removed to expose the serpentine tubing of my novel watercooler,securedto the back of the rear refrigerator-liner;

Figure 4 is a rear perspective view of the exterior of the liner of a conventionalsingle compartment cold wall household refrigerator with both the refrigerant evaporator tubing, and the serpentine tubing of my novel water cooler secured to the exterior of the liner; and

Figure 5 is a rear perspective view. of the exterior of the liner of a conventional two compartment or two temperature household refrigerator with both refrigerant evaporator tubing and the serpentine tubing of my novel water cooler secured to the exterior of the liner;

Aconventional household refrigerator cabinet I [consists in part, of a shell l2; a liner! 3, suitable insulation M, a food compartment 15, and, except where ice is used, aimachinery compartment ll. When ice is used as the refrigerantth-e ice itself will be the primary heat exchanger 16.

When either a well known mechanical system or a well-known absorption system is used to withdraw the heat from the interior of the cabin net;- the primary internal heat exchanger [6 will be an evaporator. tions, the primary heat exchanger will be referred to as evaporator 16.

My novel water cooling method may be utilized in a household refrigerator whichdepends primarily upon the circulation of air within the cabinet for the coolingof the food storage chamber; For example, whether ice, a mechanical refrigeration system, or an absorption system is utilized to cool the food storage chamber, my novel structure for maintaining a convenient and continuous supply of cool drinking water may be incorporated into the cabinet structure, for-the successful operation of my invention in the refrigerator heretofore described merely depends upon the transfer of heat by convection from the liner of the refrigerator to the air within the food compartment.

A quantity of heat contained in a water supply whose temperature is greater than that of the food compartment will be transferred by conduction from the water to the tube, and. from-the tube to the liner. This heat is transferred for the most part to the air circulating within the food compartment. Warm air within a refrigerator cabinet rises and is cooled by the evaporator iii. The cold air descends to the lower portion of the cabinet, cooling liner I3 and the foodstuffs stored in the chamber. from the liner, foodstuffs, etc., the temperature of the air rises again, causing it to ascend. The paths of circulation of air vary with the internal arrangement of the cabinet. The arrows of Fig ure 1 demonstrate one set of possible paths for Hereafter, in these specifica-- As heat is transferred consists of a closed system of tubing for circulation of a refrigerant. Plate 28 is in heat exchange with a conventional evaporator 34 of either a mechanical or an absorption refrigeration system. A portion of the secondary system tubing is in heat exchange with plate 28 and operates as the secondary system condenser 35. Tube 29 transmits the condensed or liquid refrigerant to the V evaporator tubing 21 which is secured to liner 26. Tube 53% returns the evaporated or gaseous refrigerant to the secondary system condenser 28.

When the serpentine tubing 3| of my water cooler is secured to the liner of such a cold wall refrigerator, the heat in the water is transferred by conduction to tubing 3!, thence by conduction to liner 2%, thence by conduction to evaporator tubing 2?, and thence by conduction to the refrigerant in tubing 2?. This heat causes the refrigerant to change from the liquid to the gaseous state. The gaseous refrigerant rises to condenser 35 and transmits this heat to evaporator 34. As the heat is transmitted to evaporator 34, the refrigerant condenses to a liquid.

In a conventional household refrigerator with two compartments separated from each other by insulation, it is common practice to cool the normal food storage compartment to a temperature several degrees above freezing by means of a cold wall liner which is cooled by any one of several well-known means, such as the secondary system heretofore described. A perspective view of the rear of such a refrigerator with a fragment of the shell and insulation removed is shown in Figure 5. Liner 36 is cooled by evaporator tubing 3! which is coiled around the liner and nested between and insulated from the serpentine tubing of my novel water cooler. In a refrigerator of this type, the water in serpentine tubing 88 is cooled in the same manner as the water stored in the embodiment of my invention shown in Figure 4 and heretofore described.

It will be understood that the serpentine tubing of my novel water cooler and the refrigerant tubing may be disposed on the liners of the refrigerators of the types shown in Figures 4 and 5 in various ways and that the arrangements shown are merely illustrative. But in each case both the refrigerant tubing and the storage tubing of my water cooler are secured in heat exchange relationship to the liner but are otherwise insulated from each other.

The evaporator coils of a secondary or other refrigeration system controlled by conventional means maintain temperatures above freezing in the water cooler may be spaced apart from the liner of a refrigerator but in heat exchange with the serpentine tubing of my water cooler. Likewise, such evaporator coils may be placed in heat exchange with both the liner and the serpentine tubing of my water cooler. These and similar variations of preferred embodimerit intended to come within the scope of this invention.

It will be understood that this invention is intended to cover the method of cooling and storing water in serpentine tubing disposed between the liner of refrigerator and the shell, and insulated from the shell. The water may be cooled by transferring the heat to the tubing and thence to the liner and/or the evaporator coils of a refrigeration systems.

In one embodiment of my novel water cooling method, the'water is supplied from a water pipe l! connected to the regular water system. The

water supplied by pipe I! circulates through serpentine tube 18 which is secured to the back of the rear liner 2! by brackets l9 and 20. The latter may be attached to the liner by bolts or other suitable means. After passing through the serpentine tube, the water is piped to the water tap. The latter may be mounted inside of the refrigerator in an accessible location corresponding to that of tap 22.

The success of my method depends to a great extent on the rapidity of heat exchange between the serpentine tubing i8 and the rear liner 2| of the refrigerator. This transfer may be hastened by filling the crevices left between the rear liner 2! and the contact surface of serpentine tubing 18 with a high heat exchange mastic, thus increasing the area through which heat may be conducted from the serpentine tubing to the liner. It is my intent that the scope of my invention cover serpentine tubing held in contact with the refrigerator liner by mechanical means, a high heat exchange mastic, solder, and other known suitable means, or any combination of the aforementioned means of maintaining contact between the serpentine tubing and the rear liner.

It will be noted that in the foregoing specification, the conduit is disposed on the exterior of the inner liner and a faucet is located inside of the cabinet. In Figure 4, the conduit is shown with substantially its total storage volume located in an area of short vertical elevation extending downwardly from the horizontal projection of the bottom wall of the refrigerant cooling unit. In all of the structures, the portions of the liner that support the conduit and faucet are readily accessible when these elements are placed in position, permitting easy assembly and avoiding the necessity for securing the conduit in close quarters; the whole assembly, consisting of water cooler and inner liner, can be readily fitted into the proper spaced relation with the outer shell. Further, the location of the bulk of the conduit in the position v below the cooling unit is found to provide the most efiicient means for quick cooling of the water within a relatively small space but at the same time avoiding freezing of the water coils.

In the structure shown in Figure 3, the conduit is shown with at least a portion of it on the liner in the area directly behind the evaporator.

By disposing a portion of the conduit in this position while having a further portion extending below the cooler as described, it is found that extremely cold water can be drawn off of the faucet in the upper part of the refrigerator and in both this structure and the structure shown in Figure 4, the opening of the door has least effect upon the'relatively uniformly cold water drawn from the faucet.

It will be understood that my invention covers any water cooling method which depends on conducticn of heat from the water to its container and thence to the liner of the refrigerator, and that it is not my intent to limit my invention to a serpentine tube in physical contact with the ing water, said apparatus being completely disposed upon the vertical walls of said liner and comprising: a continuous conduit having a source of water at an inlet end and a valve at another end terminating in said cabinet for controlling the admission of water into and from said conduit, said conduit being disposed upon the concealed exterior of said liner with at least a portion of said conduit extending upwardly from the lowermost portion of said freezer unit, and with a portion of said conduit also extending within an area terminating a short vertical distance below the lowermost portion of said freezer unit, and mastic means having good thermal con ductivity and being in heat-exchange relation with said conduit and said liner wall for extending the heat exchange contact area of said liner and conduit and restricting heat exchange between said conduit and its ambient.

-2. In a refrigerator cabinet having an outer shell and an imperforate inner liner spaced therefrom forming a storage compartment, a freezing unit in the upper part of said storage compartment, apparatus for cooling, storing and dispensing water comprising: a continuous conduit disposed upon the vertical exterior wall of the imperforate inner liner, at least a portion of said conduit extending upwardly above the lowermost portion of said freezing unit, a source of water at the inlet end of said conduit and a valve at the outlet end of said conduit, and mastic means having good thermal conductivity and being in heat-exchange relation with said conduit and said liner wall for extending the heat exchange contact area of said liner and conduit and restricting heat exchange between said conduit and its ambient.

3. In a refrigerator cabinet having an outer shell and an inner liner spaced therefrom and forming a storage compartment, at least one wall of said liner being imperforate and equipped on the exterior surface thereof with a refrigerant cooling coil extending longitudinally thereof and in heat-exchange relation therewith whereby the iner wall is cooled by the refrigerant flowing through said coil, a water flow conduit mounted upon and in heat-exchange relation with the exterior surface of the wall of the liner having said cooling coil thereon and having a plurality of spaced coils interspaced with those of said cooling coil, said flow conduit having an inlet at one end adapted to be connected to a source of water and extending at its other end into said storage compartment and providing an outlet therein, a dispensing valve within said compartment and connected to said outlet, the water iiow path through said conduit being in the same direction as the flow path of refrigerant through said cooling coil, and mastic means having good thermal conductivity and being in heat-exchange relation with said conduit and said liner wall for extending the heat exchange contact area of said liner and conduit and restricting heat exchange between said conduit and its ambient.

References Cited in the file of thi patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,618,514 Copeman Feb. 22, 1927 1,741,594 Vollmer Dec. 31, 1929 2,000,879 Brown May 7, 1935 2,400,135 Quinn May 14, 1946 2,479,189 Koscielski Aug. 16, 1949 2,553,693 Wehr May 22, 1951 

